1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to cable sleeve comprising a tubular member with a longitudinally extending slit with wedge-shaped flanges therealong, and a wedge-shaped clamping rail for locking the flanges together in a sealing relationship.
2. Prior Art
In the cable sleeve art, a problem with sealing a longitudinally extending slit of the cable sleeve is of a prime importance and many different types of locking or sealing arrangements are known. In many cases, a sealing compound is inserted between the surfaces forming the slit and these surfaces are pressed together with considerable pressure by means of clamping elements. For example, the surfaces of the slit may be integrally formed on flanges of the sleeve member and a plastic sealing compound or member is inserted between these surfaces. To obtain the required sealing pressure on the sealing compound which pressure will be evenly distributed in such a manner that no air may penetrate into the sleeve, pressure or clamping screws acting on the flange are utilized.
A different locking possibility comprises providing integral reinforcements or flanges on the sleeve member, which reinforcements or flanges extend along side of the slit and receive clamps which extend across the slit and apply pressure to the flanges. This type of reinforcement or flange, as disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,158,992, can also utilize clamping rails, which extend across the slit and press the flanges together. If the flanges or reinforcements have a continuous cross section along their entire length, the mounting of the rail on the flanges is extremely difficult due to the fact that the rails have a constant cross section and that the force to slip the rail along the length of the flanges must overcome the frictional forces created by the rail applying pressure to seal the slit. To overcome this problem, the flanges or reinforcements as well as the clamping rails have been formed with a wedge-shape. In this manner, the clamping rail can be more easily assembled on the flanges or reinforcements with much less force. In addition, additional sealing pressures are produced as the rails are slipped or moved further on the wedge-shaped reinforcement, and the structure of the wedge-shaped rails and flanges ensures an even distribution of the sealing force on the total area of the surfaces defining the slit of the tubular member. However, these forces are still sufficiently high so that in many instances a suitable tool is required for assemblying the rail on the flanges. Moreover, a danger always exists that the clamping rail, due to the wedge-shaped construction, will slide off or become disassembled from the flanges or slip on the flanges to lower the sealing pressure or force on the slit.